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Central Park's SummerStage was sizzling yesterday and it wasn't just the weather. Right after 3 p.m. the English group Ska Cubano took the stage with their excellent mix of island music—that would be the islands of Jamaica and Cuba. Central Park was the opening show of their first North America tour. "Chango" and "Babalu" are two of their best-known songs, but their forthcoming CD ¡Ay Caramba! was for sale in the park and can be bought here. Ska Cubano has rightfully got a lot of press attention in the UK, and while Afropop Worldwide has given them some attention, this North America tour will get the press they deserve.
Then after an elaborate stage preparation, New York's own Balkan Beat Box began their wild carnival show with a big procession through the crowd, featuring a bit of Samba atmosphere, what with all those brass players and costumed performers. (Weren't they withering from the heat?) Tamir Muskat, Ori Kaplan and crew got their groove on with sounds that stretched from Romania to Yemen, Balkans to North Africa, Ramallah to Tel Aviv (to reference how they describe their style). A belly dancer accompanied one of the bestest Arabic songs, and the crowd was totally pumped. Haven't seen this much gyrating since catching Iggy Pop last summer at Jones Beach, and the Arabic pulse made me look forward to the upcoming Cheb i Sabbah show on July 22nd. What's so great about Balkan Beat Box is how they can quickly shift gears from one genre to another, and their happy style is truly infectious. Pretty incredible that while Ska Cubano took off for a show in Canada, Balkan Beat Box was scheduled to play today at the Roskilde festival in Denmark. No sleep 'til....København I guess.
Finally the latter-day incarnation of Fela Kuti took the stage, NYC's Antibalas, and I was immediately transported back to Zombie o Zombie. Their politics are even more direct than dear-departed Fela, and the hammer came down to the electronic gavel with the loud shout of "Order in the Court," the opening line from "Indictment" off their album Who Is This America? Hearing them call for the indictments of Karl Rove and so on just one day after the big ruling about Guantanamo—how timely. But unlike in Fela's burned Kalakuta Republic, Antibalas doesn't kill off their band members when their influence grows too strong. They just add more: At times I counted 12 or 13 performers onstage—the influence of so many plastic cups of Bass beer meant I ran out of fingers and had to use a third hand. Antibalas head off next week on a big European tour, starting in Portugal. Must be July is finally here!
Tags:
Antibalas, Balkan Beat Box, central park, Ska Cubano, summerstage
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Posted on 7/2/2006
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